Future nurse, teacher discover their passions at MC

After enrolling in education courses at MC and taking a history class from Professor David Hopkins, Brandee Brown discovered her calling is to teach history at the secondary and/or

After enrolling in education courses at MC and taking a history class from Professor David Hopkins, Brandee Brown discovered her calling is to teach history at the secondary and/or post-secondary level.

Editor’s note: This is one in a series on Midland College students and alumni.

The following quote is attributed to Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Teachers and nurses get the best seats in heaven.”

Brandee Brown and Hissel Sotelo are two Midland College students who are pursuing those heavenly career paths. The native Midlanders are Lee High School graduates -- Brown, 20, graduated in 2015, and Sotelo, 19, graduated in 2016. They didn’t know one another at Lee and their experiences at MC are not at all alike. However, these experiences have led both young women to discover passions that they are now turning into careers.

In August 2015, Brown embarked on her pursuit of a college degree at West Texas A&M University.

“I have always known that I wanted to be a teacher ever since I taught Sunday school at my church,” she said. “At West Texas A&M,, my major was elementary education. However, I didn’t adjust to college life well. I was lonely, and I missed my family. So, after just one semester, I transferred to Midland College.”

Sotelo, on the other hand, enrolled at MC immediately after high school graduation. She, too, already had a career goal.

“I had taken a CNA (certified nurse aide] class at the Midland College ATC during my last semester in high school,” she said. “After I went through the CNA program and passed my certification exam, I knew that I wanted a medical career.”

For the past year, Sotelo has been taking prerequisite courses for MC’s associate degree nursing program while working two part-time jobs -- as a certified nurse aide at Terrace West Nursing Home and as a lab assistant for MC’s Health Sciences Continuing Education department.

Brown also has two part-time jobs — as a customer service representative for Domino’s Pizza and as a residence hall manager at MC’s Craddick Hall.

Both women seem to be juggling school and jobs extremely well. Brown is in the honors program at MC, is vice president of scholarship for Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, is president of Sigma Kappa Delta English Honor Society and is an MC Regent. Sotelo just passed the rigorous application process to be admitted into MC’s associate degree nursing program and will begin classes in January. Upon graduating in December 2019 she will be able to take the National Council Licensure Exam for registered nurses.

“My ultimate goal is to become an RN,” said Sotelo. “I plan to stay in Midland and work in a hospital or clinic. My experience working at a nursing home has taught me to be thankful for our lives. When I see patients suffering, I want to comfort them and do what I can to meet their needs. It’s good to know that I’m making a difference in others’ lives.”

Brown said her passion has always been to teach. After enrolling in education courses at MC and taking a history class from Professor David Hopkins, she discovered her calling is to teach history at the secondary and/or post-secondary level.

“I’ve always liked history, and my goal has always been to become a teacher and change students’ lives,” Brown said. “It wasn’t until I took a class from Dr. Hopkins that I was inspired to pursue teaching history as a career.”

Her honors project for the spring 2017 semester involved research on the history of the women’s rights movement. She won honorable mention for her project and a $500 reward at the spring 2017 West Texas Symposium of History. She plans to do another project for the spring 2018 symposium that will incorporate history and government.

Brown will graduate from MC with an associate of arts degree in teaching. Like Sotelo, Brown wants to remain in Midland. After she graduates in May 2018, she will transfer to the University of Texas of the Permian Basin where she will work on double majors in education and history with a minor in kinesiology. She wants to teach and coach at a small school in the West Texas area and eventually get a master’s degree and possibly even a doctoral degree so that she can teach at the college level.

Brown and Sotelo claim that they have found their life’s passions at Midland College. Those passions are evolving into rewarding careers.